Fred Wescott has been growing apples in the small southeast Minnesota town of Elgin for more than 40 years. In the 1970s, Fred took over his father’s hobby orchard and transformed it into a successful national business that packs, ships and sells the best regional apple varieties to retailers all over the country.

Fred is the president of Mississippi Valley Fruit Company, that grows, packs and markets regional fruit for 20 family run orchards in MN & WI. He has taken his passion for apples to another by building one of the industry’s most successful Varietal Development programs, creating new consumer favorites Pazazz and RiverBelle.

In addition to distributing some of the finest apples in the upper Midwest, Wescott Orchards is part of a community of family farmers dedicated to being good stewards of the environment. Wescott was the key driver behind the TruEarth program, which was developed to enhance sustainable and holistic farming practices to grow the highest quality fruit.